THE TROPICANA

A World of Cuban Fantasy

by HABEEB SALLOUM, senior global correspondent

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Situated on the outskirts of Havana in lush tropical gardens, the Tropicana, from 1939 until our times has been a myth mixed with fantasy. Established as a casino/entertainment nightspot by the mafia, it became a mecca for American tourists before the Cuban revolution. Then after the overthrow of Batista, it was turned into a folkloric cabaret for workers who performed well at their jobs. Today the wheel has turned a full circle and again the Tropicana has become a major tourist attraction - sans the mafia, roulette wheels and slot machines.

When we entered the portal of Cuba’s top entertainment establishment, we found ourselves in a huge outdoor ballroom where towering trees seemed to reach toward the heavens. Amid this greenery was a mass of foreign spectators sitting under the stars waiting for the show to begin.

We had barely sat down when the lights went on and the music thundered amid popping lights and dancers all around us. An atmosphere of colour and magic seemed to engulf the scene. This is what hundreds of spectators are treated to every evening in Cuba’s leisure establishment par excellence.

Featuring classic Cuban entertainment, the Tropicana features a fabulous orchestra and astonishing acrobatic feats done by their performers. The cabaret takes place in the open-air Salón Bajo Las Estrellas Tuesday–Sunday at 9 p.m. It can seat an audience of more than 1,000, enjoying a world of fine singing, colour, beauty and sex with the dazzling showgirls as the main attraction - wearing elaborate headdresses and little else. The cast of some 200 entertainers, dazzling in their glittering stage clothing perform with wild abandon. Popping up from everywhere; on the stage; on side platforms; on ladders; and atop the trees, the dancers seemed to come down from the skies, scantily dressed and gyrating their hips.

Dozens of young beautiful dancers, appearing from the distance identical in shape, face and form, kept their audience entranced as they danced and swung all evening with constant costume changes. Their spectacular headdresses and transparent apparel enthralled all and it was very hard to take one’s eyes off of the stage. An Englishman sitting next to me sipping his rum and coke remarked, “I think that all these girls were cloned from a beautiful model.”

The glamour of sexy youth combined with male and female singing, acrobatic performances and the fantastic background created a grand, eye-bulging spectacle. It gave me a feeling that we were in a fantasy world.

The Tropicana, one of the largest showplaces in the Caribbean and one of the most famous floorshow theatres in the world, is often compared to the Moulin Rouge in Paris. To its tourist clientele, this queen of nightclubs has for years been known as a ‘paradise under the stars’.

Cubans love to have a good time and here these performances defuse their happiness to the groups of tourists who have travelled from their resort abodes to see this lavish cabaret of throbbing music and captivating dancers.

Attending a performance at the Tropicana is not cheap – 65, 75 or 85 convertible pesos (CUC), depending on the location of the seat. To bring in a camera, it’s another CUC 5 and for a video camera 15 CUC. With $1.10 Canadian dollar equal to one Cuban CUC, the price becomes somewhat high and therefore affordable mainly to the tourist sector. However what makes the price bearable are the extras. With every ticket comes 1/4 bottle of 3-year old rum; 1soft drink; 1 drink of champagne; and 1 hors d’oeuvre. For drinkers this is an unexpected bonus; for others, almost missing their tour buses, as they stagger around searching for their guides.

Every tourist who journeys to Cuba should make at least one visit to Cuba’s splendid show place. The show is breath taking and will leave one with fond memories of Havana and Cuba.

There is nothing like the Tropicana in the country. Its flashing lights, glitz, ostrich feathers, aerialists, top singers and fast moving programs all blend to create a magic night in Castro’s Cuba. It is an incredible place of great colour, energy and variety. It is said that a writer, after gazing at the scantily clad beauties, once called the spectacle the ‘Garden of Eden after the fall of man’.

In the past few decades, a good number of similar cabarets have opened throughout the country, but they are only faint imitations of Havana’s number one house of entertainment. The Tropicana remains by far the most pompous and flamboyant.

Although the sun has been shining brightly on the Tropicana, there are clouds gathering in the horizon. There are rumours that in the future the show will be replaced with a spectacle featuring a more coherent story line. It will retain the spirit of Cuban sensuality, but will drop some of the more wanton skin baring. Will it be progress in entertainment or will it just be killing the goose that has for the last decade laid Cuba many golden eggs?

For futher information, contact, the Tropicana (Calle 72 #4504 y Línea del Ferrocarril, Marianao, Tel: 07/267-1717. Fax: 07/267-0119.

Website: www.cabaret-tropicana.com

Pictures taken by and property of Habeeb Salloum